So, it’s been about 7 months since I left designfarm’s old World Headquarters in the Takoma Business Center, moving less than a mile (but emotionally it may as well have been cross-country!)… to my cozy basement home office. Yes, the ceiling is a little low, and I miss that amazing view of the entire DC area from the 8th floor. That said, I am a verrrrrrrry happy little graphic designer. And yes, that is a deer antler on the window sill. I hope to make it into a purse handle at some point.

It was super challenging to figure out what would fit in one room vs. three, but all of my favorite things are here with me… from the ancient collectible piece of Studio 405 signage (the Mrs. Eaves font ligature for the letters s & t, top of image), to my vintage typewriter, and little collection of radios including an 80’s boombox reconfigured to run off my ipod!

Look closely at the metal printing plate on the wall… that was the image used on my very first piece of stationery as a freelancer… doing biz as simply: BLOOM. My furry pink pillow (d is for designfarm, or flip it and b is for bloom) which was featured in the book REGRETSY, (where DIY meets WTF!). Yep, that’s Miss Peggy Lee at the far left of the image, one of the BF’s fab collection of framed b/w music photos.

The schedule here is rigorous, yet relaxed. I’m at the computer at 7:30 a.m., coffee in hand, answering emails and even doing some work at that crazy hour. After the BF vacates the elliptical (yep, a gym right here at the office), I jump on and return to my desk at 10, all shiny and clean and ready to tackle the day’s most challenging work. Remarkably, I’m really a morning person and tend to do any creative problem-solving (as opposed to say, bookkeeping) in the a.m.

Here is my employee, Bernard, doing what he does best, relaxing and/or sleeping on the sofa. He follows me upstairs for lunch, then back down for our afternoon of hard work. It’s tough being a dawg.

Occasionally (very!) I am joined by daughter, Molly, who will read a book and keep me company too in the afternoons. All told, it is an incredibly lovely working life. The quietude, punctuated by a dog bark to announce the mailman, allows me to focus and really enjoy my projects. And, if I feel antsy or lonely, I just head down to Old Town Takoma… my old stomping grounds, to visit MacLab, grab lunch, (BEST tofu gyro, EVER) or poke around the vintage shops (Polly Sue’s is amazing). Life, my friends, really is sweet.